Air cleaner

ABSTRACT

An air cleaner includes a housing, a filter, a photocatalyst reaction unit which can form spiral a air flow, a forced convection device, and an electrocircuit controller. The forced convection device is located between the filter and the photocatalyst reaction unit. Because the air cleaner uses a longitudinal air conduit, an air inlet along a tangential direction of the air conduit and spiral guide vanes at the inlet, air passing through a fan and into the air conduit flows spirally in the conduct conduit to increase the time during which air contacts the photocatalyst and enables the light of the ultraviolet lamp to radiate the photocatalyst directly so that the cleaning efficiency of the photocatalyst is increased.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an air cleaning device usingphotocatalyst, more particularly, to an air cleaning device which hascombined effects of sterilization, air filtering and purifying.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

The air cleaning device has been increasingly and widely used as a goodvarieties of pollution are brought about in the modern society. The aircleaning device typically includes a cooling device, an air purifyingdevice and an exhaust fan etc. In a conventional air purifying device, acorrugated paper material is commonly used as a means for separatingfume or dust so as to purify the air. Further, active carbon is added inthe air cleaning device so that the air is further filtered. That is,the air laden with bacteria can be absorbed by the active carboncontained in the air cleaning device. However, the above conventionalair cleaning device is problematic in that the active carbon must bereplaced when it is saturated with contaminants removed from the air.More often than not, the consumer may neglect to replace the activecarbon. Accordingly, air filtered by the air cleaning device in whichthe active carbon has not been replaced is not effectively improved inquality.

In recent years, photocatalyst which is mainly composed of TiO₂ has beenproposed. The photocatalyst generates a catalyst reaction upon radiationof minute ultra-violet ray so that sterilization and deodorizationeffects on the air laden with bacteria are achieved. In an air cleaningdevice in which photocatalyst of TiO₂ is applied, a matrix with acomplex structure shaped like a honeycomb or a woven web cloth isemployed and the matrix or the woven web cloth is impregnated with orsprayed with photocatalyst of TiO₂. However, the above two kinds ofconventional air cleaning device have the following disadvantages. Forthe former one, it is disadvantageous in complicated structure and highcost. For the latter one, it is necessary for the web cloth to bemanually cut by the workers. As the specification for the cloth differsfrom each other in different applications, mass production of the webcloth can not be effected. As a result, no commercialized product of theabove air cleaning device is available till now.

Another air cleaning device has been proposed in the Chinese UtilityModel Patent No. 00263712.X (Publication No. CN2457491Y). The aircleaning device disclosed in the above utility model publication isconfigured as follows. More specifically, the air cleaning deviceincludes a body having an air inlet port and an air outlet port. Anactive carbon filtering material is disposed adjacent the air inlet portinside the body. The air cleaning device further includes a filteringweb. Upon operation of the suction fan, the air is drawn into the aircleaning device through the air inlet port and the air filtered by theactive carbon filtering material is sucked and thereafter exhaustedoutside through the air outlet port. The filtering web is configured tobe a structure consisting of plastic web layers which are laminated oneby one and are manufactured by injection molding process. Each web layeris provided with a plurality of separation ribs and bore holes. Thephotocatalyst is provided on the separation ribs. Upon radiation ofultra violet ray, the photocatalyst provided on the separation ribsgenerates a catalyst reaction so as to decompose air, thus achievingeffect of sterilization. As described above, as the filtering web isconfigured to be a structure consisting of plastic web layers which arelaminated one by one, in which each web layer is provided with aplurality of separation ribs and bore holes, and the photocatalyst isprovided on the separation ribs, it is possible to achieve massproduction of the air cleaning device with above arrangements whilereducing the cost of it. Furthermore, the air flowing through the boreholes and gaps therebetween gets into contact with the photocatalyst ofTiO₂ so that a sterilization effect and a deodorization effect areachieved. However, it is an important factor for carrying out thecatalyst effect that a sufficient amount of ultra violet ray is incidenton photocatalyst and the air to be treated must be brought into contactwith the photocatalyst. However, as the carrier of the catalyst of theair cleaning device is configured to be a web-layering shape, the lightis not evenly incident on the catalyst. Further, the time in which theair contacts with the catalyst is short and the chance for the contactis relatively low. As a result, the purifying efficiency of thephotocatalyst is not satisfactory.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made to overcome one or more aspects ofthe above disadvantages in the prior arts. Accordingly, it is an objectof the present invention to provide an air cleaning device usingphotocatalyst in which the chance and time for which the air contactswith the catalyst and the catalytical effect are effectively enhancedand the air purifying efficiency of the catalyst reaction is remarkablyincreased.

Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth inpart in the description that follows, and in part, will be obvious fromthe description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention.

The forgoing and other aspects of the present invention are achieved byproviding an air cleaning device, comprising: a body; a first filterunit; a photocatalyst reaction unit which can generate spiral aircurrent; a forcible convection unit and a circuit control unit which canadjustably control the operation of the forcible convection unit,wherein: the first filter unit is disposed below the body and has afront surface in shape of an opening so as to communicate with theoutside and a rear surface in communication with the forcible convectionunit, and the forcible convection unit is disposed between the firstfilter unit and the photocatalyst reaction unit so as to communicate thefirst filter unit with the photocatalyst reaction unit, characterized inthat:

the photocatalyst reaction unit includes an air duct, a photocatalystcoating layer provided on an interior wall of the air duct, two lampholders, at least one ultra violet ray tube mounted on the two lampholders, and a blow guide holder on which a spiral blow guide blade ismounted,

wherein two ends of the air duct are hermetically connected to left andright side plates of the body respectively,

the air duct is provided at a left side thereof with an air inlet portwhich is in communication with the air outlet port of the forcibleconvection unit in a tangential direction thereof and provided at theright side thereof with an air outlet port in a tangential directionthereof;

two ends of each ultra violet ray tube are mounted on the lamp holdersand are axially disposed inside the air duct;

the blow guide holder is provided on the left side plate and located ata position of the air inlet port of the air duct;

one of the two lamp holders is connected to the right side plate of thebody, and the other one is connected to the blow guide holder.

According to the present invention, a photocatalyst reaction unit inwhich an elongated air duct is combined with an air inlet port disposedin a tangential direction of the air duct and spiral guide bladesdisposed at the air inlet port thereof is employed. The air drawn intothe air duct through the blower flows spirally inside the air duct alongthe interior wall of the air duct. As a result, the time and chance forwhich the air contacts with the photocatalyst are greatly increased.

With this construction, ultra violet ray emitted from the ultra violetray tube can be directly incident onto the photocatalyst withoutblocking so that the catalyst reaction effect is greatly enhanced. Thus,the purifying efficiency of the air cleaning device is furtherincreased. Particularly, since the specific gravity of the volatileorganic chemical (VOC) and bacteria is greater than that of the air, thevolatile organic chemical (VOC) and bacteria will be certainly thrownagainst the interior wall of the air duct when the air rotates aroundthe central axis of the air duct due to the eccentric forces appliedthereupon. In this way, the volatile organic chemical (VOC) and bacteriawill come more closely to the photocatalyst. Consequently, thephotocatalyst causes the volatile organic chemical (VOC) and bacteria tobe decomposed into free ion radicals so that the effects ofsterilization, deodorization and purification of air can be achieved.

The air cleaning device of the present invention has a simpleconstruction and can be easily effected with good applicability. The aircleaning device according to the present invention can be widely used asa purifying device in rooms inside a house, automobiles or a goodvariety of appliances such as air conditioners and dishwashers fordust-removing, sterilization, and air-cleaning.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent and readily appreciated from the following description of thepreferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view showing an air cleaning device according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is sectional view of an air cleaning device according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the construction of a lamp holder andan ultra violet ray tube of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the construction of the air duct ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be describedhereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, whereinthe like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout thespecification. The present invention may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as being limited to theembodiment set forth herein; rather, this embodiment is provided so thatthe present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art.

As shown in FIGS. 1-4, the air cleaning device of the present inventionincludes a body 1, a first filter unit 4 for filtering the air so as toremove contaminants and dust from the air, a photocatalyst reaction unitwhich generates spiral air current; a forcible convection unit 3 whichforcibly draws air from outside into the first filter unit 4 and sendsit into the photocatalyst reaction unit, and a circuit control unit 5which can adjustably control the operation of the forcible convectionunit 3. The first filter unit 4 is disposed below the body 1, having afront surface in shape of an opening so as to communicate with theoutside and a rear surface in communication with an inlet port of theforcible convection unit 3. The forcible convection unit 3 is disposedbetween the first filter unit 4 and the photocatalyst reaction unit soas to communicate the first filter unit 4 with the photocatalystreaction unit. The air which has been filtered by the first filter unit4 is delivered into the photocatalyst reaction unit so that the catalystreaction is carried out therein. The circuit control unit 5 is providedinside the body 1, and a plurality of control buttons and a display unitare provided on a control panel of the body 1. With this construction,the operations of the photocatalyst reaction unit and the forcibleconvection unit 3 can be adjustably controlled by manipulation of thebuttons provided on the control panel of the body 1.

The first filter unit 4 includes a dust blocking web 42 which isprovided on a front housing 11 of the body 1 and a movable door 41. Thedust blocking web 42 is a filter web made of active carbon orhigh-efficiency HEPA filtering materials or a combination thereof. Themovable door 41 is disposed on the front side of the dust blocking web42 and provided with an air suction grill. The forcible convection unit3 is configured to be a blower consisting of a motor 31 which isprovided between a front housing and a rear housing of the body 1 andconnected to the circuit control unit 5, and a plurality of blades 32which are mounted on a rotation shaft of the motor 31. An air inlet portof the blower is in communication with the first filter unit 4 and anair outlet port thereof is in communication with an air inlet port ofthe photocatalyst reaction unit. In order to effectively generate spiralair current, the photocatalyst reaction unit includes an elongated airduct 21, a photocatalyst coating layer 22 disposed on an interior wallof the air duct 21, two lamp holders 24, at least one ultra violet raytube 23 mounted on the two lamp holders 24 and a blow guide holder 26 onwhich a spiral blow guide blade 25 is mounted. The air duct 21 iscomposed of two elongated housings each having a semi-circle sectionwhich can be abutted with each other. A recess is provided on the lowerleft side of each of the two semi-circle shaped housings. Accordingly,the recesses provided on the two semicircle shaped housings respectivelycan be abutted with each other so as to form an air inlet port. An airoutlet port is provided on a right end of the sidewall of one of thesemi-circle shaped housing.

The interior wall of the air duct 21 can be formed into a smooth surfaceor an accidented surface with undulations. In an exemplified embodimentof the present invention, the interior wall of the air duct 21 is formedinto an accidented surface with undulations. The photocatalyst coatinglayer 22 is coated onto the accidented surface of the interior wall ofthe air duct by a spraying or impregnating process. Consequently, theratio surface area of the photocatalyst coating layer can be effectivelyincreased so that the purifying efficiency can be. Two ends of the airduct 21 are hermetically connected to left and right side plates of thebody 1. The air duct is provided at the left side thereof with an airinlet port which is in communication with the air outlet port of theforcible convection unit in a tangential direction thereof. In this way,since the air inlet port of the air duct is inclined and the air inletport is disposed in a tangential direction of the air duct 21, the airdrawn into the air duct 21 can reliably flow along the interior wall ofthe air duct 21 so as to enhance the contacting between the air and thephotocatalyst only by adjusting the blowing speed of the forcibleconvection unit 3.

In this case, three ultra violet ray tubes 23 are arranged in form of aChinese Character

. Two ends of each ultra violet ray tube 23 are mounted on the lampholders 24 and are axially disposed inside the air duct 21. With thisconstruction, ultra violet ray emitted from the ultra violet ray tube 23can be directly incident onto the photocatalyst without blocking so thatthe catalyst reaction is enhanced into the most desirable state. Thus,the purifying efficiency of the air cleaning device is furtherincreased.

The blow guide holder 26 on which a spiral blow guide blade 25 ismounted is provided on the left side plate of the body 1 and located ata position of the air inlet port of the air duct 21. Due to rotation ofthe blow guide blade 25, the air flows spirally inside the air duct 21.As a result, the time and the chance for which the air contacts with thephotocatalyst are improved, thus enhancing purifying efficiency of theair cleaning device of the present invention.

In addition, one of the two lamp holders 24 is connected to the rightside plate of the body 1, and the other one is connected to the blowguide holder 26. With this construction, the lamp holders, the ultraviolet ray tubes, the blow guide holder and the air duct are integrallyformed into a single assembly.

1. An air cleaning device with a photocatalyst, comprising: a body; afilter unit; a photocatalyst reaction unit which can generate a spiralair current; a forcible convection unit; and a circuit control unitwhich can adjustably control operation of the forcible convection unit,wherein; the filter unit is disposed below the body and has a frontsurface with an opening communicating with the outside and a rearsurface in communication with the forcible convection unit, the forcibleconvection unit is disposed between the filter unity and thephotocatalyst reaction unit so the filter unit communicates with thephotocatalyst reaction unit, the photocatalyst reaction unit includes anair duct, a photocatalyst coating layer disposed on an interior wall ofthe air duct, two lamp holders at least one ultra violet ray tubemounted on the two lamp holders, and a blow guide holder on which aspiral blow guide blade is mounted, ends of the air duct arehermetically connected to left and right side plates of the body,respectively, the air duct includes, at a left side, an air inlet portin communication with air outlet port of the forcible convection unit ina tangential direction thereof, at a right side thereof, and with an airoutlet port in a tangential direction thereof, ends of each ultra violetray tube are mounted on the lamp holders and axially disposed inside theair duct, respectively; the blow guide holder is located on the leftside plate and located at a position of the air inlet port of the airduct, and one of the two lamp holder is connected to the right sideplate of the body and the other lamp holder is connected to the blowguide holder.
 2. The air cleaning device with a photocatalyst accordingto claim 1, wherein the air duct includes two elongated housings, eachhousing having a semi-circle section, which can be abutted with eachother, wherein each of the two semi-circle shaped housings includes at alower left side a recess so that the recesses of the two housings can beabutted with each other so as to form the air inlet port.
 3. The aircleaning device with a photocatalyst according to claim 1, wherein theinterior wall of the air duct includes a surface with undulations, andthe photocatalyst coating layer coats the surface with undulations ofthe interior wall of the air duct.
 4. The air cleaning device with aphotocatalyst according to claim 1, wherein the filter unit includes adust blocking web and a movable door on a front housing of the body, thedust blocking web is a filter web made of active carbon orhigh-efficiency HEPA filtering materials or a combination thereof, andthe movable door is disposed on a front side of the dust blocking weband includes an air suction grill.
 5. The air cleaning device with aphotocatalyst according to claim 1, wherein the forcible convection unitincludes a blower having a motor located between a front housing and arear housing of the body and connected to the circuit control unit, anda plurality of blades mounted on a rotating shaft of the motor, and anair inlet port of the blower is in communication with the filter unitand an air outlet port of the filter unit is in communication with anair inlet port of the photocatalyst reaction unit.